James Freeman's "San Francisco Cleans Up for Xi. Why Not for Thee?" (Best of the Web, Nov. 13) poses the question of whether, after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, San Francisco can seize the "opportunity to reset the narrative on a city that has become a national punchline." The answer is evident from the details of preparation for the event, and here's the real punchline: In the area of the summit, the city has created what is, in effect, a small Potemkin village.
The illusion of cleanliness and security for the visiting dignitaries has been created with scores of law-enforcement personnel brought in from all over California, and with weeks of work by battalions of municipal workers. Most of San Francisco will remain filthy, lawless and plagued with homeless encampments and drugs, and the Potemkin village will vanish after the summit.
As in other, similar American cities, this is the result of "progressive" governance that tolerates criminality and antisocial behavior and that substitutes virtue-signaling for evidence-based policies.
Henry I. Miller
Redwood City, CA